What form of transportation do you use at port?

[snacks4you]

My wife and I are about a year away from cruising on the intercoastal as live aboards. We are asking which form of transportation live aboards use to get around town while at port. Bicycle? Foldable? Scooters? Standup scooters, etc?
Thanks!

 

[Wayfarer]

So far I've used my sperries, but I see a lot of loopers with bikes passing through. I suspect its got a lot to do with how much room you have aboard to stow stuff. I always thought it would be neat to keep a vespa on the boat deck. If only I had a boat deck. Or a vespa.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Marina courtesy vehicle or taxis. Some businesses will drive you back to your boat if you get to their locations so it may be a one way walk with groceries for example. Some restaurants accommodate as well. Lots of friendly folks.

 

[HopCar]

Welcome aboard! Richard on Dauntless kept his boat at my dock for a month or so while he worked on her. He had an electric bicycle that he used to get around town. I was very impressed by how for he traveled on it.

By the way, whatever anchor you have is the wrong kind, it's too small and you don't have enough chain. Just thought we should get that out of the way now.

 

[BruceK]

Welcome Snacks! Bikes are popular, but the near inevitable rust on steel working parts is no friend.

 

[Bay Pelican]

Was able to find aluminum beach beach bikes which did not rust - except for the handlebars. Ended up using them for years. In the Caribbean they became too much of a target so we go rid of them.

 

[FF]

The most important transport required is to bring home the groceries.

Food , beer or propane tanks are heavy , but easy to handle in a folding shopping cart.

4-Wheel Deluxe Folding Shopping Cart, Black - Walmart.com

A couple of folding bikes are great for looking at historic neighborhoods , tho many are small enough to simply walk.

Enterprise car rental,for real exploring , or parts hunting.

 

[ranger58sb]

Bicycles and dinghy.


Our bikes are folders, but that's an over-rated virtue if you have the space (just turn the handlebars and use folding pedals). Lightweight is good. I prefer internal hubs, but mega-gears haven't really been necessary. More important feature is a sturdy rack; we zip-tie milk crates to ours so we can carry heavy loads. Plus handlebar bag. Plus backpack.


We find it useful to hose down our bikes after an unprotected run to remove salt spray, and then we coat with something like CRC 6-56. There are no truly marine bikes (that I've been able to find) even if frames are aluminum or carbon and chains and spokes are stainless; it's the smaller connecting hardware that will rust in a heartbeat.

Dinghy is for trips from one waterfront section of town to another.

-Chris

 

[psneeld]

Dingy and bikes.

First trip to FL was without bikes...never again.

Opens whole new areas to visit and makes long walks to pick up the one or two forgotten things at the store not so bad.

I went the other way with bike mentality.....no real room below deck to store...so I went with the $79 mountain bike at Walmart. Pretty well made considering...but on the heavy side as it is cheaply made of steel I suppose. After one year...little rust on most parts..again like Chris pointed out..it's the little hardware.

If I get 3 years out of it I figure that's OK because I really can't store below decks. Might get many more years..but I bet parts would be involved and at $79 for new...hard to justify a loyal of effort.

I lash them to the after handrail with twisted handlebars. They live under cheap covers that don't kast...homemade sunbrella ones may be in the future.

 

[ranger58sb]

I lash them to the after handrail with twisted handlebars. They live under cheap covers that don't kast...homemade sunbrella ones may be in the future.

Ours will fold and fit in carrying bags, but it's usually more trouble than it's worth to put 'em into their bridge storage home.

So we've begun folding them in the cockpit and simply draping the bags down over the top of each. But it happens we're experimenting -- actually just today -- with making a pattern for a larger Sunbrella cover for each where we could leave the bikes upright/unfolded (bars turned). We think it can be as simple as one seam, and some hemming.

-Chris

 

[psneeld]

My experience is the flapping usually is the culprit that destroys the covers...

For me the cover shape and or battens and fastening will be the challenge.

Or just hem some chain in the bottom and let gravity be my friend....

 

[ranger58sb]

My experience is the flapping usually is the culprit that destroys the covers...

For me the cover shape and or battens and fastening will be the challenge.

Or just hem some chain in the bottom and let gravity be my friend....

Hmmm... hadn't thought about flapping. Deb suggested an elastic drawstring at the opening, at what would be the "bottom" side when draped over a bike. I'd thought that'd be too much work... but maybe I'll revisit that. Or the weight idea, instead; gravity almost always works.

-Chris

 

[BandB]

We walk, walk and walk. We use taxi's and local buses. We occasionally rent cars, but not often. We don't have bicycle's as we explore in a way that they'd be a bit burdensome. We might walk into town. Take a bus across town. A taxi to somewhere else. Walk to dinner. Then luck into a ride back to the dock with someone we met at the ice cream parlor. It's just whatever works for you. We also rarely use convenience vehicles provided by marinas as we don't want to feel rushed to return them nor feel like we're depriving someone else. We know that's what they're there for, just not out thing.

When we explore on land it's not just a trip into town or one place. We normally target at least three attractions in a day plus lunch, plus ice cream along the way, maybe breakfast, just a lot mixed in so just us. My wife doesn't even carry a purse. If it won't fit into my pockets, we don't take it with us.

 

[Mule]

We have Priority Bikes. Aluminum frames, most everything stainless and no chain. A belt. No complicated chain set up with multiple sprockets. In hub 3 speed. No app needed to fingger out which of 22 speeds to choose. Weigh a little over 20lb.
I found out about this on this forum...love the bikes, no maintance to speak of.

 

[hmason]

You can get a cheap BBQ cover at Walmart and use it to cover bikes. Some bungee cord and your all set. We have folding bikes that we haven't used in 2-years. A good friend took a spill and wound up in the hospital. That sought of told us that we are getting to an age where we don't heal very fast. Cars on the road aren't very courteous.

 

[psneeld]

Tried the grill cover the first year...didn't last as long as the lighter, regular and cheaper bike covers found on Amazon.

All the light weight or plasticized nylon barely survives the UV let alone any flapping or rubbing.

Now maybe the more expensive covers last like Weber or others...but when the cover cost as much as the bike ... not sure where it all ends as Jimmy would sing.

So much for "share the road".... I treat cars like enemy fighter planes and I am an observation scout.....I travel in places they can't or won't go or I break all the biking rules to avoid them, Sorry real bike enthusiasts if I give you a bad name but I am allergic to hospitals and cemetaries.

 

[hmason]

What he said.

 

[BandB]

We choose not to ride on anything on the streets or roads that doesn't have us surrounded with metal or fiberglass. It's too much like rock, paper, scissors except motorcycles and bicycles always lose to cars and trucks.

 

[mbevins]

We choose not to ride on anything on the streets or roads that doesn't have us surrounded with metal or fiberglass. It's too much like rock, paper, scissors except motorcycles and bicycles always lose to cars and trucks.

Very nice analogy. We use our folding Dahons but treat all vehicles as the enemy and never put ourselves near fast moving cars.

 

[BandB]

Very nice analogy. We use our folding Dahons but treat all vehicles as the enemy and never put ourselves near fast moving cars.

We use to ride in a park near our home in NC. However, even though we lived very close, we'd load them up in our cars and drive the bikes there. That wasn't so easy either since we didn't have cars designed for transporting large items. Fortunately we both had convertibles, so we'd take the tops down to make that trip, take the bicycles out, and put the tops back up to go riding.

 

[psneeld]

We choose not to ride on anything on the streets or roads that doesn't have us surrounded with metal or fiberglass. It's too much like rock, paper, scissors except motorcycles and bicycles always lose to cars and trucks.

That's why I just stay away from them....not always easy...I will walk the bike in some situations.

In rural areas and small towns...the bike is the only way to get around. No busses, shuttles, t taxis and waiting for a freindly resident may be a long wait.

Of course you can always walk..but 5 to 10 miles on a bike doesn't wreck the day like hoofing it would both in time and energy wise.

When in foreign ports off USCG cutters we hoofed it many miles to get places.....always thought a bike would make sense some of the time. Been doing the "cruisin" life for nearly 40 years now one way or another...the old legs are wearing out.

 

[Puffin_NT32]

Check above in this folder for "Folding bicycles", a related thread and more comments on folders.

 

[Heron]

When I was 17, my buddies dad tossed him the keys to a Trojan 31' flybridge, a credit card and said "Have fun!" We headed off down the Chesapeake with his Honda Super 90 strapped to the swim platform. It was a most excellent adventure for a couple of teenagers!

These days, I'm thinking of a folding bike....

 

[Manleytl3]

We have Priority Bikes. Aluminum frames, most everything stainless and no chain. A belt. No complicated chain set up with multiple sprockets. In hub 3 speed. No app needed to fingger out which of 22 speeds to choose. Weigh a little over 20lb.
I found out about this on this forum...love the bikes, no maintance to speak of.

Thanks for the info on the Bikes!! We always travel with ours but they're heavy & tend to rust in a salt environment.

 

[Mule]

Second here on Priority Bikes. We have 2, found out here too.

Log in and register, Priority has deals on occasion.

 

[rwidman]

Many marinas have courtesy vehicles. Many towns are small enough that walking works. We have a folding grocery cart for carrying groceries, laundry, etc. Other boaters have driven us to the store and back and sometimes townspeople have offered to drive us back to the marina when they see us shopping or walking. One marina we stayed at recently pays for a taxi to and from the local grocery store. Not the tip, though.

Our boat is a bit small for bicycles or other means of transportation and of course, bicycles don't last long when sprayed with salt water.

If push comes to shove, you can pay for a lot of taxi or bus rides for what a pair of good "marine" folding bicycles cost and you don't have to find a place to store them.

 

[Heron]

Second here on Priority Bikes.

third here...My wife loves hers, though it's not for boat use...

 

[Ski in NC]

I went the same route as PSN. Cheap Walmart mountain bike. His cost $79, mine cost $89. I bought it 4yrs ago and it sits in cockpit and I run fast in chop with lots of spray. It gets salt drenched. I hose it off and spay anti corr goo on it, which sorta works. Still it is pretty rusty and might not live much longer.

I think any bike would get wrecked with salt spray, so might as well be cheap.

My old college bookbag makes toting smaller things easy. Bigger things might make long distance travel with a dock cart, a taxi or uber. Major grub/brew replenisments always are taxi/uber or if in luck a courtesy car.

Short trips on hoof.

 

[Seevee]

I've got a little Honda 125 that comes apart for travel. Never tried it on the boat, but should. It might be a bit awkward getting it on and off depending on the dock.

However, I'm pretty much a bike fan, and use mine quite a bit. Not folding but probably should be. Shopping right now. The Montigue looks the best overall, with an excellent reputation, but will rust.

 

[GFC]

If you're looking for a good folding cart to carry groceries back to the boat, try one of these. Some friends have one and it's great. About $65 on Amazon.